'Chaudhry' Curry Spicing Up Political Front in Pakistan

Pakistani police have detained hundreds of opposition activists in a crackdown ahead of protests planned against President Gen. Pervez Musharraf's removal of the Supreme Court's chief judge, opposition leaders said today. Interior Minister Aftab Khan Sherpao said he had no information about any opposition detentions ahead of the opposition rallies scheduled to take place across Pakistan on Monday.

The protests are the latest in a judicial crisis sparked by Musharraf's removal of Judge Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry on March 9. Musharraf suspended Chaudhry over unspecified allegations that the independent-minded judge had abused his authority. Musharraf has defended his move against Chaudhry, saying it was not politically motivated and followed the Constitution. But opposition political groups and lawyers accuse Musharraf, an army general who seized power in a 1999 coup, of trying to tame the court before elections likely to trigger legal challenges to his rule.

Since Chaudhry's removal, lawyers and opposition groups have held a series of protests across Pakistan against Musharraf. Some have turned violent, leaving several people injured. More protests are planned for Monday by the Alliance for Restoration of Democracy, the main anti-Musharraf opposition grouping which includes the parties of former prime ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif. Hundreds of alliance supporters have been detained over the past three or four days, said Raja Zafarul Haq, chairman of Pakistan Muslim League-N, a party led by Sharif. Musharraf toppled Sharif's government in 1999.

Haq condemned Musharraf's removal of Chaudhry as "unconstitutional, illegal and immoral." The detention of opposition activists "is an effort to prolong his dictatorship," Haq said. Sherpao said political parties should not turn Chaudhry's removal into a political issue and should let a judicial complaints council decide the judge's future. Chaudhry's case is before the Supreme Judicial Council, a panel of senior judges, which can either confirm or throw out the allegations he faces. The council is scheduled to resume hearings in Chaudhry's case on April 3.

Story: Sadaqat Jan, AP